Instead of big resolutions, plan gentle experiments that align with your values

The point isn’t perfection but to hold a north star; to consciously identify and acknowledge our contradictions, grow because of them, and not be driven by our unconscious patterns

Those texts will try to beat you down as they did to every student that has glanced through their pages. Thousands have cried while reading them, trying to comprehend pages and pages of jargon. The same happened to me and I questioned my decision to undertake a Masters degree.

The pursuit of our life's work is not a luxury but a necessity for the soul. It is a journey we must all take even when the destination is unknown or unreachable.

It’s impossible until someone else does it. But most times, it’s also invincible until someone else threads the path and shows the way.

More and more we want the same careers, lifestyles, and experiences as those around us. We conform to fit in. But in denying our individuality, we lose sight of what actually makes us unique and happy at the deepest level.

One optimizes for greater counts of likes and comments, and the other optimizes for interesting conversations and opportunities.

Remember, the journey matters more than reaching perfection. You don’t have to have everything figured out before you start; you don’t need to be perfect during the process.

In other words, even though my heart is racing, I have enough evidence for the rational voice in my head to confidently say: "We've done this before. We've got this."

Home is comfort, and out there in the world is the wilderness. But it is there that we find formation and identity. It is here that we strip away expectations of who we are–defined for us from birth by family or communities we are born into.

This project of being our authentic selves demands something of us that isn’t found out there in the world but deeply within us.

There is no audience…Your action, which seems like headline news to you, is a whisper to most others.

Remember, it’s not the big and intense things that make a difference in your life, it’s the little things done every day that grow into remarkable habits.

It's somewhat like looking at a painting or being enamoured by sincere poetry, it leaves something in you, that stays for days on end and carefully unfolds to maturity.

Sometimes, all you need is do nothing to bring everything crumbling down.

Sometimes, the trials and tragedies colour our perception of everything and everyone.

It's not about beating the other guy. It's not about having more than the others. It's about being what you are, and being as good as possible at it, without succumbing to all the things that draw you away from it.

For me, integrity is standing by my personal principles. It is doing what I say. But, even more importantly, it is taking responsibility for my actions when I stray from my principles and turning back to my roots, no matter how far I’ve gone off course.

I am quite aware that my outline above is quite a problematic exercise since it asks you to question and potentially reject certain conceptual attitudes that inform and shape your worldview. But, in our collective effort to build a better world, country and continent, for ourselves and generations to come, this path of self-education is a first step.

I'm excited for the opportunity to be back in the classroom and I look forward to all the skills, knowledge and network I'll build in the next 12 months. And importantly, the transformation that will be birthed as a result of my time as a Mastercard Foundation Scholar here at the University of Edinburgh.